MARION, Ind. -- Indiana Wesleyan University continued its difficult early schedule on Friday as the team co-hosts the IWU-Taylor Crossover Tournament. Eight teams are competing over two days in Marion and Upland.

Indiana Wesleyan lost the first match of the evening to #RV Davenport (Mich.) in a thrilling 3-2 contest and rebounded for a 3-1 win over No. 22-ranked Point Park (Pa.). Indiana Wesleyan lost to Davenport by scores of 25-16, 19-25, 25-22, 25-27, 11-15 and then beat Point Park 24-26, 25-15, 25-19, 25-10.

The Wildcats are currently 3-3 on the young season. IWU improves to 2-2 in matches that pit them against NAIA Top-25 programs while the other two matches have been versus teams receiving votes in the national poll.

The home crowd in Luckey Arena was able to see the new batch of Wildcats that features seven freshmen. Six of them played on Friday and made quite an impact.

“There are so many young kids that it feels like we’ll get a run going and then they will get a run against us,” said Indiana Wesleyan head coach Candace Moats. “But I was really proud of them again and the maturity they keep working through is really going to be great down the road.”

“The freshmen are learning as they’re going but they are so hungry to learn,” Moats continued. “They are playing at high levels because they are doing exactly what we are telling them to do.”

Senior Rae Brandes struck a team-high 13 kills in the match with Davenport, senior Kristine Egebrecht added 11 and freshman Sarah Collicott made her home debut in Luckey Arena with seven kills. Brandes added a match-best 15 digs in addition to two aces. Sophomore Katey Holler assisted on 37 kills in the match and freshman Kylie Portera contributed one solo and one block assist.

The Wildcats served 10 aces with five different players serving at least one. Sophomore Kelly Cypher led the team with three while Brandes and freshmen Raina Troyer and Samantha Elkin each added two.

Indiana Wesleyan struggled in the first set against Point Park before roaring back in the last three sets to earn the victory. Egebrecht was on top of her game with 17 kills and a .467 hitting percentage while freshman Remy Bucknor smashed 13 kills with a .385 percentage. Brandes and freshman Christiana Tavo both added eight kills in the victory.

Holler finished the match with 48 assists and Rebecca Brandes led the team with 17 digs. Indiana Wesleyan added nine more aces as Cypher served four of them. Along with 13 kills, Bucknor added two solo blocks and three block assists as the team ended the contest with seven blocks.

Indiana Wesleyan will complete the IWU-Taylor Crossover tomorrow with two more matches. IWU will host Texas Wesleyan at 11 a.m. and conclude with Indiana Tech at 1:30 p.m.